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Big Guns: Washington’s Top 800 Lawyers (2007)

Here are Washington’s best—the top 1 percent—in 28 legal specialties. Where location is not specified, the attorney’s principal office is in the District of Columbia. Firm names are not given for solo practices.

NOTE: This list is from 2007. To see the current Top Lawyers, head here.

The Wise Ones

For $800 to $1,000 an hour, you can get legal advice from former US senators, secretaries of State, even attorneys general. Here are Washington’s wise men and women—and some of its most expensive legal talents, though you won’t find many of them trying cases these days.

Sometimes advice isn’t enough—you need a great criminal-defense attorney. Expect to pay $500 to $800 an hour—with a retainer of $100,000 to $200,000—for these white-collar criminal-defense lawyers. Fees are not generally deducted from the retainer—it’s more like an insurance policy for the attorney and gets returned after the case.

If you don’t need, or can’t afford, any of the higher-priced lawyers listed earlier, try these top trial lawyers charging in the $400-to-$800-an-hour range. Many have more trial experience than their colleagues above.

You want to sue the fire department that failed to rescue you, the lawyer who blew your case, the doctor who botched your medical care, the blogger who defamed you. It’s time to call a personal-injury attorney. Here are Washington’s best—most honest and effective—lawyers who sue.

For every lawsuit filed by one of the lawyers just listed, there has to be someone on the other side. Here are the defense attorneys that Washington’s plaintiff lawyers privately say they least like to see.

If you run—or own lots of stock in—a public company, the Securities and Exchange Commission can complicate your life. It rarely happens to ordinary people, but when it does, you want the best.

William R. Baker III, Latham Watkins

David Becker, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

Gregory Bruch, Foley & Lardner

Stephen J. Crimmins, Mayer Brown

Charles Davidow, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

James Doty, Baker Botts

Ralph Ferrara, Dewey & LeBoeuf

Joseph Goldstein, Mayer Brown

Karl A. Groskaufmanis, Fried Frank

Bruce Hiler, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft

John J. Huber, Latham & Watkins

Paul Huey-Burns, Dechert

Dixie L. Johnson, Fried Frank

Colleen P. Mahoney, Skadden

Michael Mann, Richards Kibbe & Orbe

David B.H. Martin, Covington & Burling

William R. McLucas, WilmerHale

Christian Mixter, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Richard J. Morvillo, Mayer Brown

John F. Olson, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Harvey Pitt, Kalorama Legal Services

Irving Pollack, Fulbright & Jaworski

Therese Pritchard, Bryan Cave

Richard Rowe, Proskauer Rose

Howard Schiffman, Dickstein Shapiro

John Sturc, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Michael D. Trager, Arnold & Porter

Harry J. Weiss, WilmerHale

Laura S. Wertheimer, WilmerHale

Samuel “Sandy” Winer, Foley & Lardner

To Merge or Not to Merge

Antitrust lawyers do most of their business at the Justice Department trying to get approval for mergers, but they also can be helpful to business owners threatened by a giant.

William Baer, Arnold & Porter

Leiv Blad, Clifford Chance

Robert Bloch, Mayer Brown

George Cary, Cleary Gottlieb

Deborah L. Feinstein, Arnold & Porter

Kathy Fenton, Jones Day

Claudia Higgins, Kaye Scholer

Joseph Kattan, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Donald C. Klawiter, Mayer Brown

William J. Kolasky, WilmerHale

Mark Leddy, Cleary Gottlieb

Daryl Libow, Sullivan & Cromwell

Janet L. McDavid, Hogan & Hartson

A. Douglas Melamed, WilmerHale

Glenn A. Mitchell, Stein, Mitchell & Mezines

Tim Muris, O’Melveny & Myers

John M. Nannes, Skadden

Steven Newborn, Weil, Gotschal & Manges

Richard Parker, O’Melveny & Myers

R. Hewitt Pate, Hunton & Williams

Phillip Proger, Jones Day

Charles “Rick” Rule, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft

Joseph Simons, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

Joe Sims, Jones Day

Tefft W. Smith, Kirkland & Ellis

Michael Sohn, Arnold & Porter

Christine Varney, Hogan & Hartson

Paul Yde, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Margaret M. Zwisler, Latham & Watkins

Got to Get Reorganized?

You’ve done everything you can, but you need shelter from creditors. As with the tax attorneys, the bankruptcy lawyers in Maryland and Virginia are more likely to help individuals, while those in the big downtown DC firms are more likely to work for corporations.

These lawyers typically deal with the Food and Drug Administration—either working to make sure your food is safe or trying to get approval to put products on the shelves.

Ed Basile, King & Spalding

I. Scott Bass, Sidley Austin Raymond Bonner, Sidley Austin

Bob Brady, Hogan & Hartson

Mark Brown, King & Spalding

Nancy Buc, Buc & Beardsley

Richard Cooper, Williams & Connolly

James Czaban, WilmerHale

Fred Degnan, King & Spalding

Ellen Flannery, Covington & Burling

Richard L. Frank, Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz

Mark Heller, Goodwin Procter

Thomas Henteleff, Kleinfeld Kaplan & Becker

Peter Barton Hutt, Covington & Burling

Jonathan Kahan, Hogan & Hartson

Paul Kim, Foley Hoag

Richard Kingham, Covington & Burling

Dan Kracov, Arnold & Porter

Stephen Paul Mahinka, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Meredith Manning, Hogan & Hartson

Eugene Pfeifer, King & Spalding

James Phelps, Hyman, Phelps & McNamara

Peter Safir, Covington & Burling

Kathleen Sanzo, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

William Schultz, Zuckerman Spaeder

Stephen Terman, Olsson Frank

Dan Troy, Sidley Austin

William Vodra, Arnold & Porter

Ladd Wiley, Akin Gump

Green Like Me—or Not

Own a dry-cleaning company—or a house on a protected lake? If so, the Environmental Protection Agency can make you jump through hoops. These lawyers can help.

Virginia Albrecht, Hunton & Williams

William Anderson, Williams Mullen

Jane Barrett, Blank Rome

Lynn Bergeson, Bergeson & Campbell

Blake Biles, Arnold & Porter

William H. Bode, Bode & Grenier

David Buente, Sidley Austin

Heidi Hughes Bumpers, Jones Day

Henry Diamond, Beveridge & Diamond

Carol Dinkins, Vinson & Elkins

Stephen C. Fotis, Van Ness Feldman

Theodore Garrett, Covington & Burling

Michael Goodstein, Resolution Law Group

Joel Gross, Arnold & Porter

Ridgeway M. Hall, Crowell & Moring

Michael Jones, Kirkland & Ellis

Daniel Joseph, Akin Gump

Laurence Kirsch, Goodwin Procter

Chuck Knauss, Bingham McCutchen

Roger Marzulla

David Menotti, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

Thomas Milch, Arnold & Porter

Richard Penna, Van Ness Feldman

Patrick Raher, Hogan & Hartson

Kathy Rhyne, King & Spalding

Perry M. Rosen, Akin Gump

Judson Starr, Venable

Margaret Strand, Venable

William Wehrum, Hunton & Williams

On the Air

If you have business with the Federal Communications Commission, you might see some of these people appealing fines, getting new technologies authorized, or working to merge two satellite-radio networks.

Kathleen Abernathy, Akin Gump

Jim Baller, Baller Herbst Law Group

Eric Bernthal, Latham & Watkins William Crispin, Crispin & Greenberg

Gary Epstein, Latham & Watkins

Charles Ferris, Mintz Levin

Theodore Frank, Arnold & Porter

Patrick J. Grant, Arnold & Porter

Jennifer Johnson, Covington & Burling

Andrew Lipman, Bingham McCutchen

Richard Metzger, Lawler, Metzger, Milkman & Keeney

John Rogovin, WilmerHale

Michael Senkowski, Wiley Rein

Bryan Tramont, Wilkinson Barker Knauer

Cheryl Tritt, Morrison & Foerster

Philip Verveer, Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Richard Wiley, Wiley Rein

Kathryn Zachem, Wilkinson Barker Knauer

What’s the Big Idea?

Sometimes something you invented ends up being sold or used by someone you never talked to. Theft of intellectual property, from new windshield wipers to music to computer programs, is common. Some of these lawyers work cases involving millions of dollars and know their way around the Patent and Trademark Office. Many used to work there.

V. James Adduci, Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg

Cory Amron, Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease

Sherri Blount, Morrison & Foerster

Barry Bretschneider, Morrison & Foerster

Michael Clayton, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Donald R. Dunner, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner

Mark Fox Evans, Stern Kessler

Ford Farabow, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner

E. Anthony Figg, Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck

Alan Fisch, Kaye Scholer

Ann K. Ford, DLA Piper

Joel Freed, McDermott Will & Emery

Cecilia Gonzalez, Howrey

Lawrence J. Gotts, Paul Hastings

Edward Gray, Morrison & Foerster

Margaret Kavalaris, Cooley Godward Kronish

Roderick R. McKelvie, Covington & Burling

Richard McMillan Jr., Crowell & Moring

Larry S. Nixon, Nixon & Vanderhye

George Pappas, Covington & Burling

Joseph M. Potenza, Banner & Witcoff

Thomas Queen, Wiley Rein

Thomas Scott, Goodwin Procter

George Sirilla, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

James Slattery, Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch

Ybet Villacorta, Foley & Lardner

James Wallace Jr., Wiley Rein

William Wallace, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy

W. Mack Webner, Sughrue Mion

School Daze

The Department of Education issues and oversees a maze of rules and regulations, which means lots of lawyers here represent school districts, colleges and universities, and sometimes individuals. A major fight now is whether public schools have to pay for private special-education programs if they don’t offer them. Here are people who can help.

Audrey Anderson, Hogan & Hartson

John F. Cafferky, Blankingship & Keith; Fairfax

Grady Carlson, Hunton & Williams; McLean

Thomas J. Cawley, Hunton & Williams; McLean

Alexander Dreier, Hogan & Hartson

Michael Jeffrey Eig; Chevy Chase

Elizabeth Meers, Hogan & Hartson

William B. Reichardt; Fairfax

Gerald S. Rugel; Herndon

Diana M. Savit, Savit & Szymkowicz; Bethesda

Arthur Schmalz, Hunton & Williams; McLean

Maree Sneed, Hogan & Hartson

Robert Wilkins, Venable

Do the Rights Thing

Civil-rights issues can revolve around race, gender, religion, language, disability, and more. Some of these lawyers handle such cases through their firms’ pro bono programs, which means a big-firm lawyer will often take an interesting or egregious case for free.

Advancing age brings issues related to Social Security, retirement, nursing homes, and more. Here’s a group knowledgeable about the laws that especially affect older people.

Elliott Andalman, Andalman & Flynn; Silver Spring

Robert Bullock, Elder & Disability Law Center

Jacqueline D. Byrd, Byrd & Byrd; Bowie

Kathleen R. Cossa; Fairfax

Jeffrey J. Downey, DMG Group

William Fralin, Estate Planning and Elder Law Firm; Arlington

Morris Klein; Bethesda

Blowing the Whistle

Reporting your company or agency for wrongdoing can get you fired, and it can get you rewarded. Handling whistleblower suits is a specialized legal practice. Most of these attorneys also practice general employment law.

John Boese, Fried Frank

Alan C. Brown, Enterprise Business Law Group

David Colapinto, Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto

Robert B. Fitzpatrick

Myrrel Hendricks, Gebhardt & Associates

Michael Kohn, Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto

Stephen Kohn, Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto

Mona Lyons

David Marshall, Katz, Marshall & Banks

Kathleen McDermott, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal

John Phillips, Phillips & Cohen

Rick Robinson, Fulbright & Jaworski

Shelley R. Slade, Vogel, Slade & Goldstein

Jason Zuckerman, Employment Law Group

In Uniform

Military life has it own set of challenges—and laws. Here are people who know their way around them.

Eugene Fidell, Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell

Matthew Freedus, Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell

Charles Gittins; Middletown, Va.

Mary T. Hall; Hollywood, Md.

Jonathan Katz, Marks & Katz; Silver Spring

James Klimaski

William Koegel Jr., Steptoe & Johnson

Matthew MacLean, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

F. Whitten Peters, Williams & Connolly

Neal A. Puckett

Douglas Rosinski, Ogletree Deakins

Stephen Saltzburg, George Washington University Law School

David P. Sheldon

Where’s Your Green Card?

The threat of terrorism has complicated life for everyone—especially for foreign nationals and people doing business internationally. These lawyers can help straighten things out.

Serge Bauer

Andres Benach, Maggio & Kattar

Sam Hsien-Cheng Chang, Wasserman, Mancini & Chang

Rajan Paul Eapen, Eapen Law Thomas Elliot, Elliot & Maycock

Roberta Freedman, Duane Morris

Andrew Greenfield, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy

Carl Hampe, Baker & McKenzie

Dev A. Kayal, Kayal & Ghosal; Silver Spring

Michael Maggio, Maggio & Kattar

Mark Mancini, Wasserman, Mancini & Chang

Sahlu Mikael

Amy Marmer Nice, Dickstein Shapiro

Eleanor Pelta, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

José Pertierra

Beth Peters, Hogan & Hartson

Elizabeth Quinn, Maggio & Kattar

Denyse Sabagh, Duane Morris

Elizabeth Espin Stern, Baker & McKenzie

Paul W. Virtue, Hogan & Hartson

Aseged Yimer; Silver Spring

Dealing With the World

Few lawyers log more miles than the ones who negotiate trade agreements and settle disputes between parties in different nations.

Charlene Barshefsky, WilmerHale

Mark Clodfelter, Winston & Strawn

John Corette, DLA Piper

Mark Cymrot, Baker Hostetler

Raul Herrera, Arnold & Porter

Michael Kantor, Mayer Brown

Carolyn Lamm, White & Case

Daniel Plaine, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Paul Reichler, Foley Hoag

Ed Rubinoff, Akin Gump

Jonathan Schiller, Boies, Schiller & Flexner

Stephen Schwebel

Running for Office

It’s a practice tailor-made for Washington: advising political candidates and groups on how to run for office and advocate change without running afoul of campaign-finance and ethics laws.

Jan Witold Baran, Wiley Rein

Robert Bauer, Perkins Coie

Joe Birkenstock, Caplin & Drysdale

Bobby Burchfield, McDermott Will & Emery

William Canfield, Williams & Jensen

Marc Erik Elias, Perkins Coie

Craig Engle, Arent Fox

Sonia Fois, Arnold & Porter

Ben Ginsberg, Patton Boggs

Laurence Gold, Lichtman, Trister & Ross

Lee Goodman, LeClairRyan

Ken Gross, Skadden

Ki Hong, Skadden

Brett Kappel, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease

John Keeney Jr., Hogan & Hartson

Rob Kelner, Covington & Burling

Carol Laham, Wiley Rein

James Lamb, Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg

Cleta Mitchell, Foley & Lardner

Lawrence Noble, Skadden

Lawrence Norton, Womble Carlyle

Trevor Potter, Caplin & Drysdale

Neil Reiff, Sandler, Reiff & Young

Joseph Sandler, Sandler, Reiff & Young

Scott Thomas, Dickstein Shapiro

Michael Toner, Bryan Cave

Lyn Utrecht, Ryan, Phillips, Utrecht & MacKinnon

Jill Holtzman Vogel

Don’t Stop the Presses!

Washington has more journalists than any other city—and more lawyers to protect them. Here are the people savvy reporters call.

Kevin Baine, Williams & Connolly

Robert Bernius, Nixon Peabody

Bruce Brown, Baker Hostetler

Laura Handman, Davis Wright Tremaine

Thomas Hentoff, Williams & Connolly

David Kendall, Williams & Connolly

Lee Levine, Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz

Mark Lynch, Covington & Burling

Thomas McLish, Akin Gump

Theodore B. Olson, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Terence Ross, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Bruce Sanford, Baker Hostetler

Paul Smith, Jenner & Block

Michael Sullivan, Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz

Charles Tobin, Holland & Knight

Let’s Make a Deal

Some Washington lawyers have done very well acting as agents for media and sports clients.

Kenneth Adams, Dickstein Shapiro (poker issues)

Robert Ades (sports, radio) Lon Babby, Williams & Connolly (sports)

Robert Barnett, Williams & Connolly (literary agent)

John Cassidy, Baker Botts (NASCAR)

Gregg Levy, Covington & Burling (NFL)

Gail Ross, Lichtman, Trister & Ross (media law, literary agent)

James Tanner, Williams & Connolly (sports)

You Want to Build What?

Washington has lots of lawyers who deal with zoning, land use, and anything else having to do with real estate and development in an area complicated by multiple jurisdictions. One thing all these lawyers combined can’t do: build a skyscraper in the District.